Rockets have found success with small ball

Rockets missing a big man?Their lack of size was supposed to be exposed in Phoenix, but they went small with great success

Published 6:30 am, Friday, November 14, 2008

Eventually, Rick Adelman has said, the Rockets would have to add another big man.

He was making a case for the benefits of playing small behind Yao Ming, going with a combination of power forwards Carl Landry, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes rather than a traditional full-sized center. But eventually, he said, there would be matchups in which he would need real size.

Eventually came Wednesday, and the lack of size off the bench was a non-issue as the Rockets left Phoenix with a 94-82 win.

At least for a few days, one of the more pressing questions of the early season had been answered.

Photo: Matt York, AP

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The Rockets have used a combination of forwards Carl Landry, Luis Scola, right, and Chuck Hayes to back up Yao Ming at center.

The Rockets have used a combination of forwards Carl Landry, Luis Scola, right, and Chuck Hayes to back up Yao Ming at center.

Photo: Matt York, AP

Rockets have found success with small ball

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“That’s so overplayed,” Hayes said. “Even when Yao went out last year and we had Deke (Dikembe Mutombo), if you look at our bench, we were still small. We’ve had success with it. It does work.”

It worked against the Suns, not so well against the similarly oversized Lakers when everything broke down.

“They have big centers and you have Stoudemire, who is a beast when he plays there,” Adelman said. “The kid (rookie Robin Lopez) is big. They’re big. That’s why when Yao’s out, our guys really have to use our quickness. We can really hurt them on the offensive end, but again it goes back to moving the ball. That creates an advantage for us. If we’re just standing around, the advantage is gone.”

That sent the Rockets to two days of practices and corrections, including a renewed determination to use the quickness of the small backup frontcourt to their advantage. They moved themselves and the ball better offensively and switched on screens defensively, funneling Steve Nash toward the sides of the court, rather than trying to trap him in the middle.

“Behind Yao, pretty much everybody is the same height,” Hayes said. “We have to use that to our advantage. That means on defense we’re so versatile, we can switch a lot of pick-and-rolls. We can guard multiple people.”

Playoffs different

In a playoff series against the Suns or Lakers, or maybe even the Portland Trail Blazers, the Rockets would probably want another big man with size. The postseason, however, is a long way off.

The Rockets have shown little urgency to add more size. Mutombo said in September he had been told the Rockets would have to trim salaries before he would be signed, but that he had decided he wanted to complete his career in Houston. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey confirmed that plan a week later, but he and Adelman said then that the Rockets were confident about using their power forwards as backup centers.

Denver has since released two big men with ties to Houston, former Rockets player Juwan Howard and Houston resident Antonio McDyess. Howard even visited with Morey informally . The Rockets, however, have stuck to their plan of waiting to reduce salaries to less than the $71.15 luxury tax threshold before adding to their roster.

In many ways, the plan mirrors last season. Though Mutombo was on the roster throughout the season, he did not play in 41 of the first 55 games. In the 14 games he did play before Yao’s injury, he averaged just 8.1 minutes, 2.4 rebounds. .29 blocked shots and .5 points.

Mutombo began playing and played well after Yao was lost for the season, leaving the Rockets with one 7-footer actually playing, with rare exceptions, last season, including throughout their 22-game winning streak, and through the 16-game winning streak in games Yao played.

Last season, the Rockets actually outscored opponents by 2.5 points per 48 minutes more when playing without a 7-footer than when compared to playing with Yao or Mutombo. Those results were helped by playing small more often against backups, while Yao or Mutombo more often played against opposing starters. But it does offer an explanation for the Rockets’ patience in adding a big man.

Taking advantage

“If Yao goes out, the opposing team has to change their lineup as well,” Landry said. “If the opposing team stays big, we can take advantage of it by running. That’s what the second unit does, run, get up and down. If he goes out, of course, we’re little, but we’re still effective.

“It’s the same thing as last year. A lot of people forget that. We have great back-up guys that are quick and athletic. It’s always a test, especially against O’Neal. With the group of guys we have, we should be all right.”

Key matchup: Yao Ming versus Tim Duncan, Duncan has usually switched to Yao down the stretch of games and is playing center more than ever.e_SLps With the Spurs’ offense limited by injuries, Duncan’s scoring is crucial.

Rockets update: The Rockets bounced back from the rout in Los Angeles to build a 19-point lead on their way to a win in Phoenix. The five-game, 10-day trip ends where the Rockets lost 17 consecutive games, spanning all of Tim Duncan’s career, before the Rockets broke through to win both games in San Antonio in the 2006-07 season. e_SLpsThe Rockets and Spurs split last season’s four meetings.

Spurs update: Losing the first three games of the season, the Spurs got off to their worst start in 35 years and have gone 2-2 since, losing Wednesday in Milwaukee. With Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili out, the Spurs’ offense has become wildly inconsistent.